My First Time

When Valero Alamo BowlTicket Director Bryan Moynihan needed a last minute fill-in to run the San Antonio Rock ‘n’ Rock Half Marathon Relay with him, I raised my hand. Since it was my first race since middle school, my wife Mindy accused me of doing it just to get material for this blog.

Bryan volunteered to run the first half which sounded good until I realized his “half of a half” marathon would be about 8-10 degrees cooler and only 5.8 miles long vs. my 7.3.

My half started at Alamo Stadium and I started getting nervous at the last minute. The sun had broken through the clouds and Bryan and I were second-guessing our attire like the runner in the turkey suit. The Valero Alamo Bowl cotton t-shirt may have shown off our logo well, but it wasn’t going to wick away any sweat.

Thanks to my alma mater my anxiousness quickly turned to awe as I ran past hundreds of students, faculty and alumni lining the Trinity University campus cheering, giving high fives and providing water.

Like everywhere on the course, spectators holding handmade signs of encouragement made the race feel like ESPN College GameDay. My favorites were “Chuck Norris never ran a marathon” and “Run faster, the Kenyans are drinking all the beer.”

The “Way To Go Perfect Strangers!” was good as well. However, after seeing several variations of this sign I wished someone would have included a picture of Balki on their sign. And where were the “Walking Dead” signs with “Run Like A Zombie Is Chasing You”?

I also wished for the ability to capture the pride I felt running through San Antonio’s great downtown with the other racers through Google Glass. Trying to make mental notes of the run but without the ability to write or record them proved futile.

Signs and city pride propelled my legs to run for about 6.9 of the 7.3 miles as I slowed my pace to a walk twice. The first time was when I saw a herd of racers loading up on “GU”. While I avoided squeezing a large ketchup looking packet into my mouth for 44 years, I needed a kick and the vanilla bean and strawberry energy gel combo to keep going.

My other slowdown was a quarter mile before the finish line. I could see the Alamodome, but the course zigzagged so much it never seemed to get any closer. I walked to the final straightaway and then luckily had enough in the tank to run the last 300 yards.

Bryan and the Kenyans may have beat me to the beer, but I got to soak in the amazing finish line experience with hundreds watching. Besides, I didn’t have room for beer with my hands full chasing my bagel and banana down with chocolate milk, Jamba Juice, Gatorade and water.

Post-race we joined the other racers to cheer for the winners (the fastest Bryan ran all day was to ask Dani Fisher the women’s half marathon champion to pose for a picture), Joe Nicholsand the event’s new date.

Sunday, December 7 is the same date as next year’s Valero Alamo Bowl team announcement so I’ll need to run faster to get ready. If UTSA finishes next season as the leader in Conference USA, the marathon would also be the day after the Alamodome hosts the conference’s football championship.

While that might present some logistical challenges, how cool would it be to see a ranked UTSA team on national TV followed by record participation at the 2014 San Antonio Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon? Hopefully as cool as the weather.